Policy Topics
Click here to access the Policy Session resources »
Thursday, December 10, 2020
2:00pm EST Police Accountability and Criminal Justice
Several tragedies have once more brought racial justice to the forefront of American political discourse. Actions of police officers in different jurisdictions, due to carelessness, bias, or outright racism, have led to calls of increasing police accountability, removing police from non-essential functions like school security to decrease potentially unnecessary criminal-justice interactions (known as defunding the police), enacting and enforcing policies to end profiling and stereotyping (including punishing the weaponization of stereotypes by those pressing charges or reporting potentially criminal activity), increasing minority community involvement in police practices and policies, demilitarizing police equipment and practices and, specifically, eliminating or greatly curbing the use of no-knock warrants. Prior to the well-known abuses starting in late spring, a growing bipartisan consensus also called for eliminating or curbing the use of civil asset forfeiture laws because of the unfairly skewed posture the asset holder is forced into when defending at court, subverting the principle of innocent until proven guilty. This session will discuss these policies and the strategies to enact them.
Moderator:
Representative Kerry Tipper (CO), Chair of Law and Criminal Justice Task Force, NHCSL
Participants:
Alex Vitale, Policing & Social Justice Project, Brooklyn College
Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel, Latino Justice PRLDEF
Kate Chatfield, Director of Policy, The Justice Collaborative
3:00pm EST Census 2020 Update and Redistricting
In October, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end the Decennial Census before everyone could be counted. While the Census Bureau website lists a 99.9% enumeration rate in all states and jurisdictions, only the Self-Response rate guarantees a high-confidence count, while the Nonresponse Follow-up enumeration rate only conveys that the Bureau has stopped trying to contact the household, not that residents were actually counted. Experts, including Census Bureau personnel, will discuss response rates and the consequences of failing to achieve a complete count. Further, we will discuss redistricting strategies and concerns and the status of litigation against the President's memorandum calling for the exclusion of undocumented immigrants from the apportionment count.
Moderator:
Senator Daniel Ivey Soto (NM), President, NHCSL
Participants:
Wendy Underhill, Director of Elections and Redistricting, NCSL
Jorge L. Vasquez Jr., Program Director for Power and Democracy Program, Advancement Project
Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez (NY)
Representative Joe Moody (TX), Speaker Pro Tempore
3:45pm EST Lilly Diabetes Solution Center Presentation
As part of its efforts to help people with diabetes who suffered financially due to COVID-19, in April Lilly announced their Insulin Value Program that caps monthly expense of Lilly insulin to $35 for the uninsured and commercially insured regardless of income. In September, Lilly added this program to its on-going suite of suite of affordability options that will be available beyond the COVID-19 crisis. The card is accessible online and through the Lilly Diabetes Solution Center and covers most Lilly insulin products. All of our programs are accessible in Spanish. Separately, Lilly also announced its participation in the new Medicare part D Senior Savings Model which will also cap a senior’s monthly insulin expenses at $35. This short session will help legislators understand the program so they are able to direct constituents on Lilly insulin who reach out for help to get its benefits.
Moderator:
Dr. Aliza Lifshitz, Editorial Director, Vida y Salud
Participant:
Cynthia Cardona, Senior Advisor in Corporate Affairs, Eli Lilly and Company